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National Nutrition Month: Addressing Nutrition-related Issues

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National Nutrition Month: Addressing Nutrition-related Issues

By Sarah Ford on March 3, 2015

March is National Nutrition Month, a national campaign that focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. The theme for 2015 is "Bite into a Healthy Lifestyle," which encourages everyone to adopt eating and physical activity plans that are focused on consuming fewer calories, making informed food choices and getting daily exercise in order to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, reduce the risk of chronic disease and promote overall health.

Throughout the month, America's Charities will use this page to feature news and information about how our member charities support nutrition through their programs and services. Additionally, we will highlight facts about why nutrition matters.

Addressing Nutrition-related Issues

Nearly 16 million children (or 1 in five kids) live in a “food-insecure” household. This means they lack the means to get enough nutritious food on a regular basis and struggle with hunger at some time during the year as a result. How does this impact child health, learning, and economic productivty?

In the United States of America, no senior citizen should go hungry. Unfortunately, hunger among our elderly population is a growing crisis—hunger rates have more than doubled for poor seniors in the United States in recent years. Food insecurity among elders increases disability, decreases resistance to infection, and extends hospital stays. Moreover, many seniors struggling to live on meager budgets opt to skip meals in order to purchase medication instead. It is important not only from a moral perspective but also from a financial perspective that every senior in America has access to adequate nutrition.

783 million (1 in 9) people do not have access to clean water, and it is projected that two thirds of humanity will live in water-stressed areas by 2025. Almost 3.5 million people die each year due to inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene. Gaining a better understanding of how water impacts political and social stability around the globe and knowing how to solve these problems is vital to addressing the growing water crisis.